Robert E. Scheper, 37, construction worker in Fla.Robert...

July 18, 1996

Robert E. Scheper, 37, construction worker in Fla.

Robert E. Scheper, a construction worker who spent his adolescence in Glen Burnie before moving south, was killed near Panama City, Fla., on June 23 after reportedly diving into a shallow pond. He was 37.

Born in Florida, Mr. Scheper moved with his family to Glen Burnie at 14 and attended public school before earning his high school equivalency. Choosing the construction trade, he apprenticed in insulation, sheet metal and iron work before moving to Pensacola, Fla., to do plastering and drywall. During the mid-1970s he served briefly in the Navy.

He enjoyed softball and fishing and was swimming in a country pond in the northern part of Florida's Bay County on June 23 when he lost his life. Witnesses told police he dove from a makeshift platform into less than four feet of water. Mr. Scheper's family said a death certificate listed causes as blunt trauma to the head, a cervical fracture and drowning.

The Bay County Sheriff's Department was still waiting for an autopsy report yesterday.

Mr. Scheper is survived by his wife, Elaine Brower Scheper of Pensacola; a son, Jesse J. Scheper of Tulsa, Okla.; his mother, V. Edith Greensfelder of Pasadena; his father, Edward A. Scheper, of St. Petersburg, Fla.; three sisters, Sharon P. Myers -- and Stacey Lynn Walker, both of Pasadena, and Margaret E. Scheper, of St. Petersburg, Fla.; and two brothers, David A. Griffis of Lakeland, Fla., and Edward A. Scheper III of Pensacola, Fla.

A memorial service is scheduled for Sunday at the home of Edith Greensfelder, 7759 Glen Ave. in Pasadena.

James M. Adkins Jr., 71, Postal Service employee

James M. Adkins Jr., a U.S. Postal Service employee for more than 40 years, died Monday of cancer at the Joseph Richie Hospice. The West Baltimore resident was 71.

The Baltimore native graduated from Douglass High School in 1941 and joined the postal service.

He served in the Army from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. He returned to the postal service after he was discharged, and worked there until the mid-1980s, when he retired as a postal supervisor.

He was an avid sports fan, especially of football and baseball.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 3121 Walbrook Ave. in Baltimore.

He is survived by a sister, Edna Baker of Williamsburg, Va.; two nieces, Beverly Bey of Williamsburg, Va., and Pearl Moss of Detroit; and Kevin McNeir of Detroit.